Cribb was born in Poole, Dorset, England into a rigidly Nonconformist family. He was educated at his mother"s Dame school. Following his father"s death, Cribb"s mother Mary Cribb (née Dirham) apprenticed Benjamin and his brother Robert to two merchants.
Influenced by John Dunmore Language"s description of the opportunities available in Australia, they migrated to Moreton Bay on the Chaseley arriving in May 1849. Benjamin Cribb was married twice, in 1839 to Elizabeth Bridson (1810—1852) and in 1853 to Clarissa Kendal Foote (1825—1899). After arriving in the Moreton Bay colony, Benjamin Cribb established a retail business in Ipswich.
In about 1852, he employed John Clarke Foote as a store manager.
In 1853, Benjamin Cribb married Clarissa Foote, the sister of John Clarke Foote. During the American Civil War he encouraged the growth and export of Australian cotton.
On 1 February 1858, Cribb was elected to represent Stanley Boroughs in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 1858 election. He was a strong supporter of the separation of the colony of Queensland and opposed the use of convicts, coolies or Kanaks as cheap labour.
He was defeated at the 1859 election on 11 April 1859.
After the separation of Queensland, he was elected to its Legislative Assembly. On 3 April 1861, George Thorn (senior), member for West Moreton, resigned. He held the seat until 2 July 1867.
He was elected in the seat of Ipswich on 12 August 1870 and held it until 14 November 1873.
He did not hold ministerial of parliamentary office. Benjamin Cribb died on 11 March 1874 at his home Gooloowan in Denmark Hill, Ipswich.
Relatives and friends carried him home on a stretcher where he died a few moments later. His death was attributed to apoplexy of the brain.
His funeral was held on 13 March 1874 where a funeral procession, one-and-a-half miles long, travelled from his home to the Ipswich General Cemetery.
Present were relatives, employees, politicians and many others Many businesses were closed for the day. His home Gooloowan is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.
He was an unaligned Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for one term in 1858–1859 and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1861–1867 and again in 1870-1873.
